Publix and Tomato Pickers

Friday

Mar 15, 2013 at 12:01 AM

We were all pleased to see in two articles in The Ledger recently that Publix is doing so well. Perhaps now they will be able to pay the penny more a pound for tomatoes asked for by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.Eleven other companies have done so, including two grocery chains — Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, and many fast-food chains, including Taco Bell and Chipotle, whose tomato purchases are a larger percentage of cost than any grocery store.Tomato pickers get 50 cents every time they turn in a 32-pound basket. That means they have to pick 15 baskets (about 500 pounds) every hour to make minimum wage. Couldn't we, as customers, pay a penny more a pound or Publix stockholders take a little less to lighten that burden?A delegation from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers plans to march on foot once again 250 miles to Lakeland to present their request to Publix headquarters. They will be in town on March 16 and March 17, sleeping at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lakeland and two other churches.They plan to hold a rally at Publix headquarters at 4 p.m. Sunday.BARBARA WALLACEMulberry